Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Mitt Romney: A Great leader with a strong faith in God and strong family values...What more could one ask for in a President? A Roman Catholic's perspective

I posted this back in March and in light of The Jeffress comment and the media buzz again about Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith, I decided to re-post it. It is my feelings about Mitt Romney's faith from a Roman Catholic's point of view:

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They're at it again. While Googling for articles today, I came across this fresh group of stories pertaining to Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith:

This is the way I look at it. I want THE BEST possible candidate to lead this nation. I want someone who believes in the principals of our Forefathers. Someone who has the ABILITY, EXPERIENCE, and KNOWLEDGE to bring our nation back to greatness. This persons particular faith is an after thought for me. I put more weight in a persons family values and how he or she conducts their lives.

As a Roman Catholic and Pro-Lifer myself, I believe most Evangelicals and Fundamentalist Christians, feel the same way as I do. Sure there are fringe elements of every group. Those that will spread lies and put all sorts of mis-information out there about Romney. Only doing so because he is a Mormon. They'll Dress up the hatred for his Religion by attacking him on an old Pro-choice stance and how they feel Romneycare supplies cheap abortions. Not telling you the whole truth, just what they want you to believe. Anything to keep the Mormon out of the White House. But again, They are in the minority.
Here are Evangelicals For Mitt explainjng why they support Mitt Romney

We want a candidate who shares our political and moral values and priorities, can win in 2012, and can govern effectively thereafter by articulating and implementing an intelligent, values-based governing strategy. This is just what Mitt Romney did as governor, this is just what Mitt Romney did in business, and this is what he would do as president.

Choosing the correct path in life.

Governor Romney Shares Our Political & Moral Values

Political and moral values are informed by -- but not the same as -- one's religion. That's why we are not casting our lot with the person whose theology we like most. History shows that to be a poor approach.

For example, in 1980 voters had two choices: a divorced movie actor who did not regularly attend church and was not on good terms with all of his children, and a once-married Southern Baptist whose evangelicalism was at the core of his public identity. Voting on the basis of whose religious doctrine was better would have meant electing the second guy -- Jimmy Carter -- over the first, Ronald Reagan. Excluding those who don't hold to orthodox Christianity would also have meant excluding such great Americans as Thomas Jefferson -- who denied the divinity of Christ -- from positions of authority. But Is anybody going to argue someone else should've written the Declaration of Independence?

Protecting the innocent and unborn

We need a president who embraces a comprehensive and positive values agenda: standing for the sanctity of life, protecting traditional marriage, defending religious liberty and basic human rights at home and abroad, combating poverty and disease within the world's poorest communities, fighting for better quality of life for our citizens, and winning the War on Terror.

We need a president who has the right economic values. We too often place the economy and culture in completely separate spheres, content to worry about "social issues" when (and only when) our paychecks are secure. This is exactly the wrong approach. Governor Romney understands that the health of the economy and the health of the family are inextricably intertwined. There can be no long-term prosperity without healthy families, and it is a profound moral problem when we pay for the sins of the present by bankrupting our children

Governor Romney Can Unite the Conservative Movement and Forge a Winning Coalition

If the debacle of 2008 taught us anything, it's that you cannot abandon the base and win an election. We must unite fiscal and social conservatives within the same tent. We cannot argue over which of the self-described "wings" of the party are most crucial. At its best, the Republican coalition combines a fierce commitment to national security, sound economic conservatism that is responsive to changing economic conditions, and an abiding commitment to life and the family. When this coalition breaks down, when any one of the three "legs" of the stool break, we lose. And lose big. In 2008 we nominated a national security conservative who knew very little about the economy (and was dangerously prone to ineffectual bouts of populist outrage), seemed to enjoy skewering fellow Republicans, and held many religious voters in near-contempt. In the next primary season, we must choose better.

But there's more than that. Above all else, the president has to lead -- he has to be a good executive. Fortunately, Governor Romney has been a leader longer than he has been a politician. Prior to his political career, Governor Romney helped to launch the very successful Bain Capital -- which helped launch such successful franchises as Staples and the Sports Authority -- and then led a turnaround at Bain Consulting. He also saved the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City which, prior to his leadership, were mired in debt and corruption but subsequently became one of the most successfully-run Games in memory.

And he's governed in a difficult political environment, too. Massachusetts is the most left-wing state in the union. If you think Bay State Democrats aren't any different from their Arkansas or Alabama or Tennessee counterparts, try defending traditional marriage or vetoing stem-cell funding up in Boston, as Governor Romney did, and see what they do. But Governor Romney did -- in addition to helping turn the economy around, opposing driver's licenses and in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants, and defending Catholic Charities' right to restrict adoptions to man-woman couples. No other candidate has a record of such successful, across-the-board conservative leadership—especially on such hostile terrain.

Summing It All Up

Mitt Romney has been a standout conservative governor of a very liberal state. He believes in the traditional family, and he has fought for it -- just ask Massachusetts' pro-family leaders.(http://www.evangelicalsformitt.org/massleaders/massleaders.pdf) He's admitted he was wrong on abortion, and is now solidly pro-life -- as his record in Massachusetts testifies. He also opposes embryonic stem cell research's speculative and open-ended carelessness with human life. He's shown courage under fire in several challenging situations, and has lived out his values (both publicly and privately) during a time when other Republicans, sadly, have not.

In addition, we challenge our readers -- friendly or hostile -- to name one national political leader on either side of the aisle with a better record of business and economic leadership than Mitt Romney. We do not know what the economy will be like in 2012, but if it's anything like it is today, who would you want at the helm? The former community organizer we have today? Or the founder of Bain Capital, the man who rescued the Salt Lake City Olympics, and the Governor who brought a state back from the brink of bankruptcy?

In other words, he's not just a man evangelicals can support -- he's the best choice for people of faith. It's not even close.

Here are a couple of videos that give insight into Romney and his faith.

This video includes his early years as French Missionary:

Mitt Romney on Faith In America:

I wonder if our forefathers were around today, which would they judge a person by, his particular religion or his character?

"Every man, conducting himself as a good citizen, and being accountable to God alone for his religious opinions, ought to be protected in worshiping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience." ~George Washington, Letter, United Baptist Chamber of Virginia May 1789

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15 comments:

Thank you so much for that. I think more people need to hear that not all religious people hate or fear Mormons and that being a member of the LDS church does not in any way negatively affect a person's ability to lead the nation.

I love that you pointed out the importance of paying attention to how a man lives his life.

Well, congradulations to Mr. Romney winning winning over a significant amount of the Catholic vote this time around. If Abortion was the only issue, than I would not have a problem with Mr. Romney per se. However, most of the GOP candidates are Pro-Life anyway so as important as the Abortion issue is, I will vote on a variety of issues. If my fellow co-religionists support Mr. Romney in part because of his Pro-Life stance, good for them. However, being further to the Right than most of my co-religionists on economic issues, I for one am looking for somebody who is more than just Pro-Life. While I would like to vote for a co-religionist, if the right candidate happens to be Protestant, Mormon or Hindu, that is fine by me.

Thank you. I am amazed everyday to see how high the Republicans have set the bar for Romney, and I truly believe it is because he belongs to the LDS church.

If Romney was the flip flopper he is reported to be and that he would do anything to get elected,he would have left the Mormon church years ago when he changed his view from pro-choice to pro-life.

I consider my self to be a social and fiscal conservative and I too changed my views to pro-life after college so I have no problems with people changing their views on the world unlike some Evangelicals I know.

My problem today is the Rick Perry is GETTING A PASS on this. No one is talking about his associations with Jeffress, the AFA, Fischer, etc. These are the people who hosted his prayer event just a few days before he announced. This is his POSSE, make no mistake.

Yet, crickets from the media. Perry orchestrated this whole attack and so far he's getting away with it. I'll bet Huck is wondering WTH, as he was not so lucky.

I hope his feet are held to the fire tonight, and that ALL the other candidates let him HAVE IT.

We need more than the limp 'Mormonism is not a cult' or 'only God can judge' crap answer. We need him to forcefully state that he was disgusted with Jeffress, and that his comments were unAmerican. Of course, we know he cannot do that. He's going down the Huck road to Iowa, or so he thinks.

It's all about leadership. Will the other candidates step up to the plate and condemn this? Ronald Reagan would and did. He said everyone is welcome in our party, but not the bigots.

Ironically, this is good for Romney. This gave him the golden opportunity he needed to distance himself from the fringe religious right. I was happily surprised the other day when in his VV speech, he called out these hateful pastors. Yahoo. It was about time.

Mitt Romney may be a good person and it seems like he is and has a great family. He has been with the same lady for years and for what we know he has been faithful, good for him.

However, mormonism is a fraud and the biggest lie that is rapidly growing not only in the united states but in the world. They have brainwashed millions of people into believing their book of mormon written by angels on gold plates.I dont agree with mormonism being a cult, they as an organization has done some good things. They have donated relief aids to poor countries, in my homeland of Honduras they have donated millions of aid during Hurricane Mitch and we are forever grateful, but I dont support what they believe. I am a christian and firmly believe what the bible tells us. No other Gods but the one true God, no other books but the bible itself. Jesus is the only way,a warning of false prophets would lead us to Joseph Smith. Now Mormons are great wonderful people with great family values and thats is wonderful, but its just their "beliefs" I have a problem with.

I will say that Romney is not my choice for president, I was very dissapointed that Palin has dropped out because she was who I was waiting for and hoping to get in. Now we are stuck with a group of so-so candidates. If the nominee is Romney, I will vote for him because he is better than Obama and i hope he sticks to what he has been saying.I only hope he does not use his power to influence people into joining his false religion.

Republican leaders all across this country need to come out and condemn this. Haley Barbour and Bobby Jindal both took a pass. How sad. They had an opportunity to show the leadership and guts we need to put this out-of-control faction of the religious right in their place. Like Bennett said, THEY DO NO GOOD.

No, he doesnt look brainwashed, maybe a little robotic lol, look I have met many mormons and they are nice people, but just being nice wont get you into the kingdom of God. You must believe that Jesus is the ONLY way, not Joseph Smith, not the book of mormon. But I agree in politics Romney should not have to face the insult he gets and i dont believe mormonism to be a cult, its just a false practice or religion.

Carlos, you're free to believe that, and it doesn't bother me at all. We all believe our own religions are right, or we wouldn't belong to them, right?

And to clarify, Mormons also believe that the only way into the Kingdom of God is through Jesus Christ alone. (But I really hope this doesn't devolve into a discussion of theology. This is not the place.)

Carlos, I'm quite certain Romney has no intention of trying to influence people to join his faith, so you don't need to worry at all.

Thanks for the post. In reference to the previous comment..... Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)do believe that through Jesus is the ONLY way to be saved. We do not believe we are saved through Joseph Smith. We believe both the Bible and the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. Hopefully that clarifies the previous comments.

www.mormon.org and www.lds.org are great resources to clarify what Mormons believe.

Again, not to diverge too much, Joseph Smith was a man only, a Prophet like St. Peter. A prophet like Moses, Abraham, etc. St. Peter, Moses, and Abraham do not get us back to God, only Jesus. That is what the LDS believe.Also, if you are taking that no other book but the Bible is the Word from Revelations. Do understand that the same phrasing appears in Leviticus. Also Revelations was written before many of the other New Testament books and letters.

Do understand that Mormons look to Jesus Christ ONLY as their Savior and Redeemer.

Don't allow yourself to be deceived about what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe. Read this for yourself; this is the truth about what we believe:

"And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." Mosiah 3:17